I appreciate State Sen. Rick Metsger's willingness to come to Hood River County last week to ask us how the legislature should handle an enormous shortfall in the state's budget. I don't envy Senator Metsger's task of deciding which important program will be cut. A number of others from Cascade Locks joined me in attending the meeting to express our concern that funding for K through 12 education should be sacred during the special session. We don't want to see any more cuts in education.

Sports commentary

The "Facts and Fiction" letter (Jan. 26) is interesting and I do appreciate the issue that Mr. Eckard Toy raises. He takes issue with my, Mr. Peter von Oppel's and Mr. Paul Rovaniek's letters as to our sources, and indicates that references should be made to verify certain facts. In the academic world we look to footnotes and bibliographies for such verification. I have yet to see such a format for letters to the editor or opinion pages in any newspaper or magazine. Such a format would probably not only take up valuable space but also take away the "flavor" of the comments.

I wish to join with many of my fellow senior citizens in criticizing the policy of our new Hood River (in name only) Garbage Service. Contrary to what one writer called "an out of town billing service" which took 11 days to get his bill leaving only one day to mail payment to that "billing service" -- he and 21 of us who want to recycle are dealing with a large out-of-state corporation.

When are people going to learn that a dog is not of the same nature as humans? They own the teeth of an animal who kills other animals. A dog is submissive to its owner because the owner is the "top dog", a dog would like to kill something to please its owner. It would like to tear the leg off passing bikers and walkers, because it is defending its territory. The dog is giving itself points for these things that are dangerous to our society.

In a unanimous decision Jan. 22, the Hood River County Board of Commissioners voted to adopt a "footprint" ordinance limiting the size of commercial buildings in the county's Urban Growth Area (UGA) to 50,000 square feet.

Electronics Assemblers, Inc. (EAI) has become a strategic partner with Columbia Gorge Community College's Electronics Engineering Technology program. The initial step in this new partnership was last week's the donation of over $9,000 in electronics material to this expanding and popular college program.

Hood River Boxing Club a hit with people of all ages

Wednesday, January 23

Trisha Ann Thornton, 19, of Parkdale was killed Jan. 18 in Gresham when the car she was riding in crashed into a power pole during a street race. Her boyfriend, Adam L. Ames, 18, also of Parkdale, was driving.

ODELL -- Housing for People, Inc. (HOPE) broke ground on a self-help housing project Jan. 17. On hand were several representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service, who presented HOPE with a $10,000 grant to help fund the project.

At a UNC lecture the other day they played a video of Oliver North during the 1986 Iran-Contra deals during the Reagan administration. There was Ollie in front of God and Country getting the third degree.

I track my bills fairly well and so when my garbage bill did not arrive in the first week of this month when it usually comes, I was a bit worried. However, since it was so close to the holidays I figured that the bill may have been delayed and would arrive during the second week. No such luck.

I would like to commend Hood River County Planning Department for an excellent effort in the processing of the Wal-Mart super center building application. As was reported in the Jan. 16 edition of the Hood River News, the Planning Department asked Wal-Mart to provide more information on approximately 50 items ranging from traffic to wetland issues. The Planning Department's efforts have demonstrated an understanding that the issue of the proposed super center is of the utmost importance to all Hood River residents. Anyone who has seen the actual application submitted by Pacific Land Designs would appreciate the enormity of the task in analyzing the application and determining if the essential criteria had been addressed.

HRV girls win third in past five conference games

I have been reading these editorials for several years now, consistently there are a wide range of complaints about anti-corporate stores, anti-developer based growth, anti-gambling, anti-foreign markets (to name a few) that all seem to be based on the negative impacts on the current status of this area. Whether that is the environment, the moral fiber of the community, or the rural make-up of the community the concern has generally focused on how these outside influences will invade the local area. Through all of these years I have never heard of anyone really acknowledge the root causes of these entities, that being population. People make corporations; corporations do not make people. People need land; the land does not make people. People want various morals; morals do not make people. I think it is blind and naive to constantly attempt to "keep" things the way they were without realizing that the problem will not go away while there are increasing populations to deal with. A growth based market created Hood River Valley, and so that same entity will overtake this area and use all its resources. Because the population is increasing the people need new places to live and new ways to support their resource needs, basic growth economics. So please, if we are going to support growth economics then can we stop with the hypocritical grandstanding causes and accept the inevitable ramification of all market based economies. Yes, more money means more traffic lights.

Local metal-works company &quot;can make it however you want it.&quot;

After a brief winter closure, the Columbia Art Gallery is up and running again. It kicked off the year last week with the opening of a show featuring the works of local painter Arnold Zweerts and local potter Jill Warila.

Losses to Barlow, Centennial endanger Eagles' playoff standing

In response to Brian Sauncy's "Vision of Compromise" (Another Voice, Jan. 5) concerning a Hood River waterfront Casino I would like to say, "sure wish we in Cascade Locks had that vision." Hey, wait a minute we did, nearly two years ago. During the past year we have spent an enormous amount of time refining our vision of a waterfront tourism Center anchored by a Casino operated by the Warm Springs Tribe. During the past year we presented our Vision of Compromise to virtually every governmental entity in the mid-Columbia River Gorge. Guess what, all who have taken a formal position to our proposal, including Hood River County and City, and our state representatives have publicly supported our vision of compromise and this is the vision we have submitted to the governor for his reconsideration. The last thing we as a county need is to clutter the governor's desk, and this public debate with yet another vision, we must be united and get behind the most viable plan.

Wal-Mart has just attained a dubious distinction: one of the ten worst corporations of 2001, according to Multinational Monitor. This was not an easy achievement for Wal-Mart. The corporation faced stiff competition from scores of multi-nationals, including co-honorees Coca-Cola "for alleged complicity with death squads in Colombia," and ExxonMobil "for leading the global warming denial campaign."

Last week you included information in your "Yesteryears" column regarding a fatal car accident in 1972. Jan. 5, 1972 is a date that my family and the other three families will never forget. It was not just a case of black ice and not only two men were involved. All those involved will be living with this day for the rest of our lives. For you it may seem some small piece of news from a long time ago. Believe me, the pain of that day never truly leaves. Our lives go on, but to see it in print every 10 years is very difficult. You have printed this information in 1982 and 1992. If some good could come from printing this piece of local history, I would find comfort, I can not find a reason for mentioning such a painful account, other than what you may regard as reader interest. Surely there must be other information to pass along that your readers would find interesting?

I just saw a KQED public television special on a small town in Virginia (Ashland) that finally lost its battle against a Wal-Mart store. The details were hauntingly similar to our situation in Hood River. After much public debate and grassroots activism, only one "no" vote was cast from the five-person town council, giving Wal-Mart the green light to build. Their corporate plan is to do whatever is necessary with the local planning and building departments to satisfy all the zoning regulations. When these regulations are satisfied, they get the approval to build. Their corporate planners and lawyers revel at the challenge -- play the game right, and you win.

Healthy families make healthy communities. Ingredients for healthy families are good parenting skills, communication and of course, an immense love. But sometimes, it is harder to mix all of this together. Sometimes things can look so overwhelming that we realize that we need something else. People often think that parenting classes are targeted at parents that lack parenting skills or that are required to take a parent training class. But, nothing can be further from the truth. Nowadays, with the frenzy of modernity, people are rushing between home and work, with little time, as parents we are entitled to get support in the daunting task of raising our children. There are programs in Hood River that may hold the answer for us where we can find advice, support, and a friendly hand. Today, we have to face a harsh reality, this is not a fairy tale world and our kids sometimes have to deal with tough issues like: drugs, violence, suicide, juvenile delinquency and gang involvement. How we can protect them? Some of us would like to cover our kids with a protective shield; others do their best fighting this battle alone. Others get together and try to build a community inside their neighborhoods, all of these have one thing in common: a commitment in raising their children inserted in a violence free, healthy and positive community. Beginning in February, Strengthening Families will be offered again to parents in Hood River County. This class targets parents of children ages 3 to 18 years old. During the last series of classes, all participants were awarded completion certificates and after a cheerful celebration parents wrote letters about their experience having this class. They all agreed in that programs like this one are much needed. "I wish I have learned all of this 20 years ago," wrote one of the mothers that took the class. "We have learned how to solve problems with our kids without yelling at them. We are improving our communication skills between our family," stated another couple. For more information please call Next Door's Youth and Family Services at 386-4098.

From mills to orchards, ailing economy `hangs on'

HOOD RIVER — Fresh off a convincing win in the Jan Anderson Memorial Tournament, the HRV wrestling team continued its surge toward the top of the Mt. Hood Conference Thursday with a narrow 31-24 defeat of Centennial.

The HRV boys basketball team lost 56-46 to Barlow Friday night, falling to 3-3 in the Mt. Hood Conference and 6-8 on the season. Please see details in the Wednesday, Jan. 16 edition of the Hood River News.

My name is Adriana Frasier, and I go to Wy'east Middle School in Odell, and am in 8th grade. This letter is in regards to the recent budget cuts at our school. Myself and all of the other kids want our field trips back. These ports teams get buses to go to their games, but the school choir has no buses for any field trips. Our 8th grade choir alone has 80 or more kids in it, in volleyball for eighth grade there were about 20 girls. There are a lot less people in sports than in choir, art and drama. the whole school has to hire buses to go with us on the fields trips but the sports have all the buses that they need to have to go to their games. However, I still think sports are important, and volleyball rocks. This budget cut is not just affecting the eighth graders; the sixth grade does not get to go to the annual ski trip and seventh grade cannot go to the choir's Best in the Northwest contest, without outside funding. The kids at Wy'east want their field trips back.

Thank you, Ladd Henderson. You hit the nail directly on the head with your opinion of the CRG clarification. There was the statement about Wal-Mart and the other big chain stores not giving anything back to the community. The other one was no one stopping at the Columbia Gorge Hotel likes to look out their window and see a large Wal-Mart.

Citizens of Hood River, County: Please don't forget why you love living here so much. Please don't forget why you think Hood River is such a wonderful place to bring up your children. The rest of the world wants much of what we have right here. That is why they come to visit, enjoy our community, and spend their money here. There is much the rest of the world is plagued with that, if Hood River is faced with also, will greatly deminish our wonderful way of life which is so attractive to so many. Please, no casinos, super Wal-Marts, strip shopping malls etc. It's time to protect our town from external enterprises who do not have our community's best interest in mind, but rather to capitalize on what is ours without respecting our way of life. It is time to set standards and make plans that are right for sustaining the greatest assets we have here: Good people, scenic beauty, clean soil, clean water, clean air, and good living. Without these things, that which is largely fueling our local economy will no longer exist, and we will become just another stop for gas on I-84.

Hood River's first baby of the year arrives the second day of 2002.

MT. BACHELOR, Ore. — Hood River snowboarder and Olympic hopeful Anton Pogue inched closer to a spot on the 2002 U.S. Olympic team by winning the first parallel giant slalom qualifying event Jan. 4 at Mt. Bachelor.

Saturday, January 5

NEW YORK — Hood River Valley High School graduate Alice Pennington capped a breakout season of bike racing by winning her first national title in the short track event at the Collegiate National Mountain-Bike Championships Oct. 25-28.

PASCO, Wash. — Now that the HRV wrestling team has proven it can hang with the best in the Mt. Hood Conference, it had a chance to prove it is one of the Best in the West at a tournament Friday and Saturday in Pasco, Wash.

I find statements like "the sewer funds are all broke" and "we spent all our money on debt service and (sewage plant) construction and that's why were in the hole" to be less then genuine. I haven't had an opportunity to review operational costs, the source of funds for expansion and maintenance, or the level of systems development charges assessed to new residential and commercial developments, so I also can't say who is really paying the bill. And it is clear from the recent article in the Hood River News, that the City of Hood River is also mum on the subject. Specifically, the subject of a new water main ($19 million) does not indicate whether the upgrade is a maintenance issue or an expansion issue or a combination of both.

I would like to respond to Joy H. von Buschow and her letter entitled "Big Enough" (Dec. 19). She made the following statement: "I also want to remind everyone, Wal-Mart will not be buying and selling produce and fruit from our local farmers and orchardists." I wonder where she got this information because it is absolutely incorrect. Point of fact: we are currently packing local orchardists' fruit for Wal-Mart.

Our family was deeply disappointed with the county commission's decisions on Dec. 17. But we were further appalled when we read commission members' comments in Wednesday's paper. After hearing over an hour's testimony of sound, compelling and researched evidence that a mega-Wal-Mart will affect life, health and property (the criteria for emergency the commission has repeatedly stood by), the commission went on to say that there was no threat to life, health and property. Chuck Thomsen justified their position by stating that declaring an instance wherein land use law and natural disasters would coincide. In other words, the circumstances for which this unique power of declaring an emergency was bestowed upon the commission has come and stared them squarely in the eyes. We are bewildered by their response. Ask the children and families in the trailer park on Country Club Road if they find the impending loss of their homes to Wal-Mart any different than losing them to a tornado or flood.

It has come to my attention that the city of Hood River has adopted new curb regulations, switched from "rolled" curbs to "straight" curbs. I'm asking that you please reconsider this decision and keep the rolled curb design.

Thank you, Keith Liggett, for a great article about the joys of skiing/boarding and sports in general (Dec. 22). It made me think about the fact that my parents taught me to ski at the tender age of two and a bit (no sane ski teacher would have taken me in to their class at that age). I still ski with my father now, many years later. He is in his 7th decade of life still has the light of joy in his eyes . . . These are the things that bind families together and make the years melt away.

The executive branch of our fine government is great and all but I for one think they are taking it just a little too far. The bills which are slipping through our view are a direct result of the government trying to take full advantage of the blind patriotism we are all feeling. These bills encroach on our civil liberties as well as they may mar our image in the world viewpoint. The motion in particular is the military tribunals, which throw the system of checks and balances into a state of disarray. By doing so the judiciary branch will wield far less power than it previously did. We may have done it before yes, but that does not change the fact that we need to see this through with all fairness.